Clayton Priory

Clayton Priory is a house built around 1820 by John Podmore of Hammonds Place in Burgess Hill, originally named New Priory. The architect may have been John Rebecca of Worthing. The house was later renamed Clayton Priory when the old house became Hammonds Place. It is two storeys high and faced with Roman cement, with the entrance front facing east. Initially, it had five windows, but the central first-floor window has been replaced by a pair of windows. The building features a cornice and parapet, with Ionic pilasters flanking the entire front. Four central window bays project, topped with a pediment, while the outer window bays are slightly recessed in arcading. There is an architrave over the two central first-floor windows, and the glazing bars remain intact. A central semi-circular porch contains a doorway with sidelights, a large semi-circular fanlight, and a door with six fielded and moulded panels. The south front has five windows and a low rectangular panel in the centre of the parapet. The first-floor windows have Venetian shutters. A colonnade of Doric columns runs along the entire ground floor, with the centre projecting slightly. Above this is a cornice and parapet with a scrolled central pediment. Inside, there is a fine staircase of a single flight that divides at the half-landing, and the hall features curved doors arranged symmetrically at the angles, along with good chimney pieces.